Customize your Leopard Dock and more with SuperDocker

Ross McKillip over at Simple Help pointed out a great little Dock utility a while back called SuperDocker.

If you want a basic 2D Dock again, or think it would be cool to make the Dock look like a wooden shelf, then SuperDocker may be for you. This donation-ware utility not only gives you control over the look of the Dock, but also provides an easy-to-use portal for customizing other features of Leopard. SuperDocker can:

• Lock the Dock
• Make your Dock 2D
• Enable Dashboard widgets on the desktop
• Add the Development menu in Safari, including the Web Inspector
• Customize the Safari progress bar
• Disable the shadows on screenshots
• Disable the crash panel when an application crashes
• …and a lot more

A number of Dock backgrounds and other items have been uploaded to the SuperDocker site; to install them on your Mac, you just drag and drop ‘em on the appropriate spot in SuperDocker.

A similar app that is popular with a lot of Mac users is OnyX, which adds maintenance and optimization utilities to the mix. Do you customize your Dock or Finder? If so, what utility do you use? Let us know in the comments.

[via CreativeBits]

Popularity: 7% [?]

Mac 101: Switching apps within Exposé

By now, everyone knows about the awesome power/productivity achieved by using Exposé. Well, here is one time saver that Apple built in which you might not have known about.

After you invoke Exposé by using either the Exposé key, F9, or F10, pressing the tab key will cycle through your open application’s windows. Keep pressing the tab key until you reach the application that you are looking for.

If you want to return to the previous application while Exposé is still activated, just press shift + tab. Then, you can select a window in the application by using the left/right arrow keys.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Mac 101: Bluetooth basics

Leopard’s Bluetooth feature is one of those things that’s easy to forget about until you need it, then you’re glad you have it. Let’s take a look at some ways to get the most out of this under-utilized tool.

In order to use your Mac with another Bluetooth gadget like a mobile phone or headset, you’ll need to pair it with that specific device. Locate the Bluetooth settings under System Preferences and turn the Bluetooth power on. Then also check the box marked “Discoverable.” This will allow other devices in range to see your Mac.

Make sure the device you want to pair with the Mac is powered on and also discoverable (check the owner’s manual for specifics on how to manage the Bluetooth settings on your mobile phone or headset). Next, click the Bluetooth icon found near your clock on the toolbar at the top of your screen and select “Set Up Bluetooth Device.” Follow the Mac’s onscreen steps that explain how to add the eight-digit passcode that will allow your two devices to talk to each other.

Once you’ve established a connection between your Mac and another gadget, your computer stores the info until you delete it — there’s no need to add a new passcode each time. When you’re done using a Bluetooth device with your Mac, be sure to uncheck the “Discoverable” option to prevent anyone else from pairing a device with your computer. When you’re ready to re-pair a device, just click on the Bluetooth icon, and select the gadget from the dropdown list.

One last thing: If you’re not using Bluetooth on your laptop, make sure it’s turned off to preserve battery life.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Leopard, Bluetooth and my new Pantech Breeze

It may be a personal preference, but I try not to use or abuse phones that can’t survive a 3-foot drop onto concrete. That’s why last week I ordered myself a sweet little Pantech Breeze.It offers one killer feature that I refuse to live without: a dedicated speakerphone button. I have this on my beloved Kyocera Slider and I demanded it on any new phone that I would buy. The Breeze brings that to the table along with a video camera and full Bluetooth support. After rebates, the phone cost about $70 and works perfectly with my iPhone SIM.

So after unboxing my new toy, I enabled Bluetooth on the phone and opened Leopard’s Bluetooth File Exchange.

BFE isn’t some super-spiffy CoverFlow all-dancing all-singing phone interface. It’s a simple little utility program (with the emphasis on “utility”) that allows you to browse your BT connected devices and use its drag-and-drop interface to transfer data to and from the unit.

Leopard recognized my phone without incident and opened the browsing window shown here. It took just a few clicks to offload my latest pictures from the phone and drag them into iPhoto. Going the other direction, I threw a few mp3 files into my Download > Audio folder and they instantly appeared onboard, ready to play.

Obviously the Pantech Breeze isn’t the iPhone (even as I end up tapping its screen and wondering why it’s not responding) but in some ways, it should have been. Why does Leopard offer this fantastic Bluetooth interaction between phone and Macintosh for an also-ran third party phone, while balking at any iPhone interactions? This is the interaction that should have been on my iPhone, using functionality already built into Leopard. I wonder why it wasn’t baked into the flagship Apple product of the century. [Read]

Popularity: 6% [?]

Fantasktik taskbar app for Leopard

Fantasktik is a taskbar app for Leopard that makes it easy to see what windows and applications are open, and to switch between them. Dockland Software, the developer of Fantasktik, announced in a press release today that the app is available for US$9.99 through the end of September. On October 1st, the price rises to US$14.99.

After installing Fantasktik, a small taskbar appears either just below the menu bar or just above the Dock — you can set the location from System Preferences. The taskbar shows all of your open applications and windows in small icons, and by hovering your cursor over the icons you see a preview of the window contents. The preview is powered by Core Animation and provides a look at all open windows for an application through a MultiTouch-like interface called Click and Slide.

You can minimize the Fantasktik taskbar by clicking one of the small buttons on either end, and double-clicking an application icon collapses or expands all window icons associated with that app.

Fantasktik requires Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. A 15-day free trial is available from the Fantasktik website.

Popularity: 7% [?]